Local dancer is Russia bound

Local ballet dancer, 12, invited to attend Bolshoi Ballet Academy

St. Augustine resident Clea Calvin, 12, will be staying in Russia for eight months to attend the Bolshoi Ballet Academy, a school founded in 1773 with a reputation for ballet training that helps produce world-class dancers.

St. Augustine ballet dancer and Murray Middle School student Clea Calvin will wave goodbye to the Ancient City on Oct. 12 when she leaves for Moscow.

The 12-year-old will be staying in Russia for eight months to attend the Bolshoi Ballet Academy, a school founded in 1773 with a reputation for ballet training that helps produce world-class dancers.

Clea is the youngest of only four female American students chosen this year. The other three are in high school.

“I am excited,” Calvin said. “I get to dance every day and take more advanced classes than what I can take in St. Augustine.”

Clea has danced in the St. Augustine “Nutcracker” for the past three years, but will miss this year’s performance due to her training in Russia.

“The Nutcracker” is staged by the St. Augustine Ballet under the direction of Luis Abella.

She also played one of the leads as the bird in “Peter and the Wolf” this May with the St. Augustine Ballet.

In addition, she has taken ballet classes at The Dance Company, Abella's School of Dance and Living Stones in St. Augustine, and Debbie’s Dance Company in Jacksonville. Area dance instructors include Monika Macbeth, Jane Bradshaw, Carol Dickens, Chelsea Hilding, Luis Abella Sam Reyes and Tamara Grundy.

At age 10, Clea made it her goal to audition for and attend the Bolshoi Ballet Summer Intensive held in Connecticut.

Her mom, Athena Calvin, read about the program in a dance magazine and noticed that the auditions were in Orlando.

The program here is offered through a partnership between the U.S. State Department and the Russian American Foundation.

She studied ballet, language, culture and history with teachers from Bolshoi Ballet Academy. Interpreters helped in classes because the lessons were in Russian.

Last summer, she was offered a partial scholarship from the Russian American Foundation to return and further her studies.

In the meantime, Clea followed the story of a 17-year-old Texas teen, Joy Womack, the first American graduate from Bolshoi Ballet Academy. Womack was chosen at age 15 to attend the Russian school and studied the art of ballet for three years in Moscow. Womack graduated this April.

Perusing her passion

“She received an invitation straight from Bolshoi Ballet Academy … I’m taking her on Oct. 12 and I will be coming home (back to St. Augustine) on Oct. 17,” said Athena Calvin, Clea’s mother. She and her husband Scott live with their three daughters in St. Augustine Beach.

Clea has two sisters who also dance, Sienna, 15, and Isla, 10. Both have danced with Clea in the St. Augustine “Nutcracker.”

After receiving the letter from the academy on Aug. 13, the family only had seven days to reply.

According to her mom, Clea has signed a contract to attend the academy from Oct. 15 through June 30.

Her mom has confidence in the classical training that Clea will receive at the prestigious school.

“If this wasn’t her passion, we would have said that she has to wait. But for more than two years, she wanted to take every (ballet) class she could,” Athena Calvin said.

Clea said she is more excited to have the experience than she is worried about being away from her family for so long.

“We are working on getting an iPad or a laptop to stay in touch,” she said.

An adventure

Her mom is happy for her daughter to get the satisfaction of achieving her goal.

“I think she will come back strong. She will have a real awareness of a culture that I’ve never had,” Athena Calvin said.

“I’ve never been to Europe. My family has never been to Europe. We are excited … Mostly because this was her idea.”

Her parents are responsible for the $20,000 tuition, unlike students in Russia who attend on scholarship or with funds from sponsorships. Local businesses and sponsors have helped Clea in the past with the cost of the summer programs.

Youth Arts in Action (www.youthartsinaction.org) is working to help the dancers and their families by pairing interested arts patrons or supportive donors with the emerging professional artists. Clea’s profile and donation page can be found on the website.

“She has been relentless in her pursuit,” Athena said. “I’m happy for her.”